Be Climate Conscious When You Travel

There are important reasons for our community to travel that help advance UB’s mission. In-person meetings and gatherings provide value that is often absent from virtual meetings. Social interaction, unintentional academic collisions that lead to innovation and creativity, the ability to stay focused in longer interactions and the importance of building relationships and networking are just a few critical factors that help justify mobility.

Still, there is also a cost to this travel that affects time, money, and the environment.

When making travel decisions, money, time, and specifically the climate-related costs need to be fully evaluated in a triple bottom line analysis (examining the social, environmental, and financial impacts). The COVID pandemic has demonstrated that much of our traditional mobility may not be as necessary or vital as we once thought. The last two years have provided us with new data and experiences to weigh when working to answer if travel is necessary.

The social, environmental, and financial impacts of travel often work against one another. Examine the balance between carbon emissions, your time, and the price of travel. Understand and evaluate the impacts on the planet and taxpayers to make an informed decision.

Travel method largely affects carbon footprint. Active mobility (walking and biking) has the lowest footprint, followed by rail travel, electric vehicles use (especially if powered by renewable energy or a clean grid like NYS), gas-fueled automobile, and air travel.

The following guidance and awareness should be factored into department decisions, purchases, and scheduling:

• Train - Overall, the most efficient way to travel is by train. Train travel cuts carbon emissions by 80% compared to a single occupancy car and nearly 90% compared to flying.⁽¹⁾
  
• Automobile - The carbon footprint of automobile travel can be dropped dramatically by carpooling and avoiding single-occupancy vehicles. Impact can be further reduced by choosing the most fuel-efficient options, like electric vehicles. In addition, selecting rental companies that have clearly expressed climate goals is another factor to consider.
  
• Air Travel - Often, air travel may be the only reasonable travel option, especially when weighing time, cost, and emissions (West coast and international travel are good examples of this). When choosing to fly, consider these important factors to lower your carbon footprint:
  • Choose an airline committed to climate action that is taking public and tangible steps to reduce their carbon footprint. Delta, Alaska Airlines, JetBlue, American, United, Southwest and others are all advancing climate action strategies and have committed to achieving net-climate neutrality.
  • Make smart connection routes to reduce the overall miles flown—with a big preference for direct options. Being as efficient as possible with connections greatly impacts an individual’s carbon footprint. Flying coach also reduces one’s footprint slightly.

⁽¹⁾ Source: https://ourworldindata.org/travel-carbon-footprint